With consumers increasingly looking for snacks that deliver better health, clean label, and appealing flavors, snack and bakery makers have their work cut out for them in coming up with products that meet all those demands. One of the growing names in the space is Perfect Bar—with products found in cooler cases rather than ambient shelves, the brand is setting out to delight snackers looking for both BFY benefits and indulgence. To learn more, we connected with Cara Liebrock, CEO of Perfect Snacks.

Jenni Spinner: The Perfect Snacks origin story sounds like the plot of a fun movie—could you please tell us how it got its start on that kid-filled bus, and how the idea came about?

Cara Liebrock: Perfect Bar was born from a family recipe. The brand was co-founded by siblings Leigh and Bill Keith, inspired by the homemade protein bars their dad, Bud, made for their family while growing up. A California native, Bud Keith was a pioneer in the health food space before it was popular, traveling across the country with his family (13 kids in all) creating homemade bars to keep his big brood fed. One day he ground up a serving of his superfood supplements, mixed them with freshly ground organic peanut butter, honey, and his blend of whole food protein, and the Perfect recipe was born. When their dad got sick, Leigh and Bill mixed, hand rolled and sold small batches of bars to anyone who’d buy, and eventually Perfect Bars ended up in Whole Foods, where consumers literally ate them up!

Courtesy of Perfect Snacks

JS: Then, please tell us how it’s grown and evolved from those early days to the nationally known brand it is now.

CL: Through innovation and outside investment, the brand grew from Perfect Bar to Perfect Snacks, a collection of fresh-from-the-fridge protein snacks including The Original Refrigerated Protein Bar, along with Perfect Bar Snack Size, Perfect Bar Minis, and Perfect Bar Crisps. In 2019, Mondelēz International acquired a majority stake in Perfect Snacks, fueling the brand’s growth while preserving its authentic mission. In fact, Perfect Snacks was the fastest growing brand for Mondelēz U.S. in 2024. I’m proud to say that female leaders remain at the forefront of the Perfect Bar brand. In addition to myself and Leigh, who remains passionately involved, our SVP of Marketing, Marion Delgutte, is a seasoned and talented marketing leader and Sarah Memoli, SVP of Sales, is helping to shape the future of the brand. Perfect Snacks is now in over 50,000 fridges across the country including Whole Foods, Target, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Costco, and more.

JS: Perfect might be a pioneer in the refrigerated BFY bar space, but now whenever I visit that section of my local grocer, I see you’ve got a bit of company. Can you talk about that evolution, and what makes the Perfect Bar stand out from that growing crowd?

CL: Consumers are increasingly focused on fresh snacking; the total refrigerated snacking category is nearly $2.5 billion, up +16.6% YA (Nielsen xAOC, Total Fresh Snacking, L52W through 9/27/25), and when choosing a snack, 66% of shoppers today are looking for something that is fresh (NielsenIQ Homescan 2024). Moreover, nearly half (45%) of US snackers are prioritizing protein when choosing a healthy snack (Mintel 2024) so as the Original Refrigerated Protein Bar packed with real wholesome ingredients and nothing artificial, Perfect Bar is well-poised to deliver against the consumer need.

We like to call our fellow refrigerated snacking brands our “fridge friends” like Mush, Mid Day Squares, Once Upon a Farm, and think competition in the category is a good thing. But living in the fridge is a unique opportunity as we are differentiated from the other fresh snacking brands as a protein bar, and perhaps even seen as a tastier snack option compared to our neighbors due to the nut butter base of our products, and chocolate nature of some of our fan favorites like our new Chocolate Covered Salted Caramel Mini. 

We are focused on bringing growth to the fresh snacking category through innovation, while strengthening our current offerings and continuing to raise awareness of our unique location in the fridge. A challenge is always going to be awareness of where to find us. Some protein bars have not-so-real ingredients, like artificial preservatives, whereas our ingredients are made from real food, which stays fresh for longer in cold temperatures, so we’re in the fridge rather than the ambient aisle. We’re also continuing to educate our consumers around the fact that despite us living in the fridge, Perfect Bars are shelf stable for up to a week if you’re on-the-go, primarily through influencer partners and our revamped website.

Courtesy of Perfect SnacksJS: Could you please talk a little bit more about the different BFY targets your products hit—clean-label, lower-sugar, high-protein, etc.?

CL: We’ve stayed true to the core DNA of the brand for the last 20 years, which is a focus on high protein, fridge-fresh bars with no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or sweeteners, more than 20 superfoods, and a craveable, cookie dough texture. We listen to our fans and keep a close eye on the category landscape, but we are primarily guided by our product philosophy, which is simple and has been the brand’s north star since its inception. 

• We focus on wholesome ingredients that each serve a purpose. Our products include nutrient-dense, quality ingredients that your body recognizes. 
• Whole, unprocessed foods are what our bodies, and our fans, are craving. There is nothing artificial in Perfect Bars. No overprocessed, surplus ingredients or unnecessary additives.
• Taste is paramount. The product has to go beyond function; it has to actually taste good. Craveability through wholesome nutrition is what we strive for, and we are known for our delicious, cookie dough-like texture which is unique within the protein bar category. 

Perfect Bars have up to 17 g of protein, 20+ superfoods, are made with real ingredients like freshly ground peanut butter and organic honey with nothing artificial so we’ve always provided the kinds of snacks that people are now looking for—a high-quality protein bar with no junky fillers that’s easy to grab and go and tastes delicious. It’s refreshing that protein, fresh snacking, and nutrition label education and awareness are finally at the forefront of consumers’ minds, but it’s where we’ve always been.

JS: You’ve got an advisory board of dieticians and other health professionals to help guide you down the path of BFY products; can you talk about those people and how they’ve helped?

CL: Our advisory board members are registered dietitians who specialize in a variety of disciplines including protein, diabetes, and family nutrition. They play a key role in helping us translate complex science into clear and engaging education for consumers and keep a finger on the pulse of emerging nutrition trends.

JS: How do you brainstorm new products (i.e. formats like the Minis, new flavors like those double-chocolate and chocolate-covered salted caramel wee bars), and then evaluate them before deciding if they’re worthy of a launch? Feel free to share as much as you’d like about the process.

CL: New product ideation always starts from within, led by our talented R&D and Marketing team, but we leverage our entire team for input during the process—from flavor ideas and names, to tasting batches along the way. Ultimately, everything we intend to launch also goes through rigorous consumer testing—and it’s important we are maintaining that discipline while continuing to move quickly. We often have testing and development running in tandem. It means we must have agile teams, so we can tune products right up until it’s time to trial!

Format, flavor and ingredients are top of mind when it comes to innovations and as an example, our Mini line offers convenient, portion-perfect treats that are packed with flavor. They are designed to be the perfect on-the-go delicious and filling snack, easy to grab on your way out the door or toss into a lunch box. We launched our new Double Chocolate Mini, in May earlier this year, just in time for summer, and our new Chocolate Covered Salted Caramel Mini in September for back to school - both have been huge hits. We’re focused on increasing household penetration, and providing new formats of our core offering is helping to move the needle. That said, we have a rich innovation pipeline for 2026 that is focused on addressing whitespace in the category, but you’ll have to stay tuned for more.

JS: Then let’s talk about those two Mini flavors I just mentioned—tell us about the Double Chocolate Mini and Chocolate Covered Salted Caramel Mini bars.

CL: We’re proud of our expanding Minis line, where each bar is packed with 5g of protein and 20+ superfoods, delivering balanced nutrition in a bite-sized, fridge-fresh snack that is USDA Organic, gluten-free, and free from artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.

Introduced in May 2025, Perfect Bar’s new Double Chocolate Mini is made with real chocolate, freshly ground peanut butter, and sweetened with 100% organic honey, and our Chocolate Covered Salted Caramel Mini, launched in September, offers a crave-worthy balance of chocolate, caramel, and sea salt, two tasty innovations that once again prove that nutritious and delicious can go hand in hand.

JS: What’s next for Perfect Snacks? Anything you can tease out about new flavors, products, retail partnerships, or anything else would be great.

CL: As demand for high-protein, clean-label snacks continues to grow and consumers become increasingly mindful of portion size, Perfect Snacks is well positioned with our current product portfolio. However, we’re always evolving and listening to our customers. Helping them achieve their nutrition and wellness goals is our mission and guides our product development roadmap.

Our innovation pipeline is rich and right now, we are looking beyond our core offerings at products that address new occasions and demographics, but without deviating from our DNA which is rooted in protein and real, wholesome ingredients. 

We’re also laser focused on driving brand awareness through a few key avenues.  We know consumers often turn to social media to help inform product decisions and we now have nearly 500 influencer partners, are leveraging Instagram and TikTok to help drive awareness, trial and education about the things that make us unique, and are strategically dipping our toe into celebrity partnerships, including a recent LTO with longtime brand fan Jason Mraz with more exciting partnership news to come next year. We have a renewed focus on growth channels like e-commerce. We know nearly 30% of bars are sold online so we’re looking at ways to continue unlocking growth there and have recently revamped our website. And lastly, we’re placing an emphasis on showing up in strategic, regional markets when and where it matters to consumers. For example, we were just the official protein bar sponsor of the Chicago Marathon which helped us drive awareness, affinity and was a huge and effective sampling opportunity. Once people try a Perfect Bar, 63% of them turn into repeat customers so trial is key (Nielsen Total US HomeScan Panel, Perfect Bar within Total Bars, L52W through 9/27/25).

We'll have lots of exciting news to share in the New Year - from breakthrough innovations addressing category whitespace, to new campaigns and partnerships.  You’ll have to stay tuned for more! 

JS: Finally, do you have a favorite Perfect Bar favorite?

CL: I need to give you two! For the morning, I love Coconut Peanut Butter. For an afternoon pick me up, the Chocolate Enrobed Mini bar is magic! 

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